A ROOT OF BITTERNESS

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.  Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12:11-15).

 

In the twelfth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Hebrew believers the Apostle uses some very plain language to both encourage and admonish those he is writing to.  Paul is warning the believers against falling short of the grace of God, and allowing a root of bitterness to grow up in their lives.  The “root of bitterness” that he is referring to is actually any root that bears the bitter fruit of sin, and not just bitterness itself.  I like the 1912 Weymouth N. T. rendering of this verse that says, “…lest any root bearing bitter fruit spring up and cause trouble among you, and through it the whole brotherhood be defiled.” (Hebrews 12: 15 Weymouth N. T.). 

 

Every plant, whether good or bad, has two main parts: that which grows above the surface of the ground and is clearly visible, and that which grows under the ground and is hidden from view.  Man’s works are like plants also: there are works that are open and visible to all men, and there are those that are in the heart and not yet visible.  Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:35).  Victory over sin, therefore, has a lot to do with what we allow to reside in our hearts and not just the outward manifestation of sin. 

 

Many Christians are busy trying to deal only with what is growing on the surface and ignore the bigger problem of what is in the heart.  When they commit an act of sin, they feel guilty and go about trying to recover from their failure.  They repent before God, acknowledge their sin to Him, and, if need be, make apologies and restitutions to those that may have been affected or hurt by their actions.  This is all well and good, but much of the time there are underlying reasons for why they were vulnerable and acted as they did.  If those “roots” are never dealt with, then they enter an endless cycle of sin and repentance, sin and repentance.  Paul refers to this cycle as “besetting sins” (Hebrews 12:1).

 

As a gardener, I know how hopeless it is to just break weeds off at the surface of the ground and not deal with the roots.  I can remove what is showing on the surface, but, before long, the roots will encourage a new series of growth.  I will be out there pulling the same weeds over and over again until I eradicate those roots.  Most times, our evil actions are the result of entertaining evil thoughts.  If we guard ourselves against the evil thoughts, then they will never proceed to the evil actions. 

 

Let me just say that every human has “roots” to deal with.  They are part of the carnal nature that we are all born with, as well as the result of how we were raised, the kind of environment we were exposed to, how and what we were taught while we were young, and bad experiences that we have had in life.  Any of these things can cause us to react in carnal ways, sometimes with no apparent reason.  We may understand that our actions are wrong in such cases, but not understand what triggered them.  Until we allow the glorious Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to shine into the depths of our soul and expose the darkness that hides there beneath the surface, we are stuck committing the same behaviors over and over again. 

 

Just how do we deal with these “roots” then?  “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16).  We must choose the things of God in our daily lives and resist the things of the flesh.  We have been quickened (made alive spiritually) by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us through the new birth.  “And you hath He [God] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1).  “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” (Ephesians 2:4, 5).  This new life that we have in Christ empowers us to overcome sin and the carnal nature and become more and more like the Son of God Himself (John 1:12, 13). 

 

Every sin has its bitter roots in self-love.  Until we learn to die to self, we will always be struggling with weeds of one sort or another.  Jesus clearly taught the principle of losing our life to gain His.  Every Gospel writer included this in their accounts of Jesus’ teachings.  Luke recorded these words of Jesus: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:23-25).  In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ words are even more pointed: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25). 

 

There is a great mystery that Paul talks about in his letter to the Colossians.  He writes that it is a “…mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” (Colossians 1:26).  Paul declares this mystery to be simply this: Christ in you, the hope of glory.  The thought that we must walk in this flesh, yet live as though we are dead so that Christ might abide in us and live out His perfect life through us is truly mindboggling and astonishing.  Paul summarized the Christian walk in this way: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).  If we can wrap our heads around that one statement, and apply its principles to our Christian walk, we will have achieved Christ’s standard for discipleship.

 

Many Christians like to quote Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” without realizing that Paul is not referring to all the things that I want to do in my life, but all the things that God has called me to do.  I can overcome sin through Christ which strengthens me.  I can love my enemies through Christ which strengthens me.  I can reach the lost through Christ which strengthens me.  I can be like my Master through Christ which strengthens me!  We cannot serve God and insist on having our own way.  We are called to follow Jesus, not Jesus to follow us.  Nevertheless, that is how many Christians live out their profession of faith: asking God for this, that, and the other thing and expecting Him to comply with all their selfish requests.  How we need a fresh session at the foot of Jesus’ cross to understand the great sacrifice that He has made for us, and the great example that He set for us!  “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21).

 

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can cast down every evil imagination, and capture every carnal thought to bring it into obedience to Christ our Lord.  Too frequently we allow our imagination to rule our words and actions when, most often, what we imagine has no foundation in fact or truth.  As we allow the Lord to search our hearts, He can reveal those hidden motivations, bitter roots, and underlying impulses that cause us to act in ungodly ways.  Whether it is anger, impatience, lust, pride, intolerance, bigotry, arrogance, unforgiveness, or any of a multitude of unwanted behaviors, each one has its “root” that needs to be pulled.

 

Reading through the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Hebrews, it is clear that God’s purpose is to change us into His image and then use us to fulfill His purpose in the earth.  Like the saints in chapter eleven of Hebrews, God intends to empower us through faith to obey His call and do His will.  The men and women chronicled in that chapter were ordinary people who did extraordinary things simply by believing God and letting Him work in them.  None of the things that they accomplished were possible without considerable personal sacrifice, but they were willing to give of themselves, “…choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt…,” because they had respect to the ultimate reward (Hebrews 11:25, 26).  Oh, that all of God’s children might aspire to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!